Well After an envenfull trip for nashville, Bumber t0 bumber traffic from west nashville To Mt julet, No key to the gate to the company chalet had to hike abou 1/2 mile up hill to the chalet at 11:00pm. Campsite 24 closed due to bear activity, what to do. Stopped at the vistors center the Lady with backcounrty check in suggested site 18. Thought middle prong should have OK water because of the storms. Headed over to LRO to pick up my windwalker chest pack and try to fine some cheap wading sandales for Gaintfish, no luck and I decided not ot spend the extra money on a new pair of boots for him (which cost me later on).
Hiked in from the Bote mountian side. Great campsite the river looked fine.
As we fished that evening I started noticed the moss on the rocks was about 12-16" from the water. Not fine! Tough fishing I caught one creek chub and one Rainbow on a red copper john. We tried again the next morning after a cold night i figured they would really come alive. Couldn't get them to hit any mymth, But missed several on dry flies. The water was too tech for Gaintfish so we decided to come on out and fish little river. But I am planning on returning when there is more water.
I could tell Gaintfish had enough hiking so we stoped along side the road before the Elkmont turn off (better known to some as the place of the pamper, still in the same place after 2 months. Again I mised several on A yellow pa.
Got a late start Sunday morning and hiked up above Treemont about 2 mile. Now I am going to pay for not buying Gaintfish a new pair of boots Meet morgan and hiked with him a little ways and found a nice pool for gaintfish to try. He sneaked down to the edge and made a rough but wrokable cast and mmorgan and i both saw a trout take his cooperjohn but alas too much slack. about that time Johnny Redneck ( sorry I am Still a p..... over this) with a spinning rod with what looked like red Salmon eggs came up the trail entered and climbed on the rock above the pool Gaitfish was fishing and started casting in the same pool. With in inches of where Gaintfish was working. It takes all kinds! Well believe it or not we watched a least four more takes on the cooperjohn but he just couldn't keep the slack out. We all know how this feels.
I told him to come on out and meet at the next pool. I notced he was standing in the middle of the trail. Whats Wrong? I think we have a problem. What. My feet are killing me. Can you go a little farther? Yea. I then noticed that we was in a lot of pain. Size 8-1/2 in my size 11 sandals that I had straped as tight as I could. so we traded shoes, a little better but not much. It is my fault, They seemed tight enough. I hate buying him wadding boots that he grows out of in 6 months. Hiked out with Mmorgan and headed straight to lro and bought him a pair of Chota. (thanks Danial).
Had a great time spending the weekend with my son, very proud of how tough he was. Been in poor fitting shoes with blisters myself and he impressed me with how litte he complained. He thinks I am slaming him online because I wouldn't let him read over my shoulder. But I really am Proud of him.

Nice to have shared the river with both of you guys today. Had alot of fun. I still cant believe that guy walked down and was literally fishing ontop of Giantfish.

I did drive over to Abams today and driving through the loop can really test your nerve with other people. Sometimes I felt like bump drafting a few people out of my way. But the coolest thing happened once I got to Abrams. I was fishing my way down from the trailhead when I looked up and there was a doe standing on the edge of the creek trail side. I thought surely she sees me and will then bolt back up the ridge or across the creek. Instead she just walked strait into the river and began eating the moss of the rocks. She was so close that I could lay my fly down between her legs. At that moment I had concluded a great day of fishing; brought over a dozen fish to hand both above Tremont and at Abrams, met some new people, and having that deer share the water with me was just absolutely amazing.

Vern,
I promise to let you know how my camping trip for next weekend is planning out. I am trying to work out a few more campsite options. I appreciate all the suggestions you gave me today.

Nothing worse than blisters, with the possible exception of a poacher. It probably wouldn't be the smart thing to do, but I would be having some words with Mr Baitdunker. I haven't seen anyone actually in the act of doing anything like that in the park, but I have seen the remnants of bait rigs, snagged in the same tree as my fly.

I wonder if there is some sort of phone number that can reach a ranger in a hurry in a situation like that - of course, most cell phone coverage is spotty at best in the mountains.

Mmorgan asked I thought we should say something. I am in the mountians to relax and I can tend to get more than a little hot headed (ask Gaintfish). So I tend to just let people be Stupid so it doesn't turn into a big conflict. I will try to be polite, like when an adult is fishing the childrens stream in Gatlinburg, and warn them that breaking the law can lead to a large fine. I have mentioned to bait fishermen that fishing with bait in the park can lead to a large fine.

Well, it's probably smart not to say anything - it's just like driving in traffic, you never know what the guy might be packing. On the other hand, just reading about what happened to your son has me boiling mad...it's bad enough bait fishing, but to horn in on someone's area is rude to boot.

Yea I was angry, but I couldn't tell if I had one or not. I did have a fish one, i got it out of the water and coming towrdsme, when is jumps back into the water! My dad didn't see that one. I back up the fact that 18 is a nice campsite, except I had to walk acros the river to get the bear cables. I did have fun, and went to LRo 3 times, waiting for another shirt to get in stock. My blisters are healing, they did hurt pretty bad, but I wnted to fish more, so I fished once more, cuz all the other holes my dad picked were hard to get to.

MMorgan, that thing with the deer sounds neat, but did it scare the fish??

The deer was in very shallow water so I dont think that it messed up things too bad. I didnt care if I caught another fish in that stretch of water with that deer standing so close to me. I hope your feet are feeling better and next time we should use your dad's bear spray to run those baitfishers off, I bet that would be a pretty funny thing to watch too. Nice meeting you.

The bait does get on my nerves, but someone walking in on me is too much. I have spoken up on several occasions and once picked up a rock to spook the fish in the hole, they walked on up the creek. I should just move on when this happens, but sometimes can't hold it.
You all did well,
John